Naturally, it takes some time before being adopted by the majority in the e-commerce system, but keeping an eye on the technological advancements is more than necessary.

A chatbot is a software technology that imitates real human interaction in a written or spoken way. It can be represented as a website bot, chatbot app, social media chatbot and a voice assistant.

The value of using this technology is that it saves time and expenses by automating customer support in an e-commerce space 24/7. Another advantage is that it generates leads and, thus, revenue by gathering preliminary information about a client. Besides, chatbots can redirect a prospective customer to the information they are most interested in.

A great customer service chatbot example is Hipmunk. This travel search engine uses the technology for travel-related questions and recommendations on their website. As well, the office supply retailer Staples uses a chatbot to offer products based on order history. It helps to complete a purchase directly through a chat.

Since the technology is relatively new, users will likely suspect that they are communicating with a robot; particularly when live-chatting. Chatbot technology is dependent upon a progression in NLP (natural language processing), and without considerable improvement in this field, it will remain a limited algorithm and continue to struggle with more complex speech (jokes, metaphors, dialects).

On the other hand, with every passing year, e-commerce chatbots become more advanced and communicate more naturally. Who knows, they may become humanized to the extent we cannot distinguish them from real human beings.